The enclosed picture resulted from friendly bickering with some bombastic Texas camera enthusiasts who, after seeing my Mexican scenics, concluded that given the chance to travel, they also could make a good showing. I jeered and pointed out that almost any former New Yorker could make even commonplace items around the home eye-catching.

Photographic Technology Training. For the first time in the history of the American photographic industry, a step has been taken to replenish the rapidly dwindling number of qualified “outside” repair facilities available to owners and users of photographic equipment.

Juvenile delinquency gets frequent mention in the public prints these days. Adults—and some of the kids as well— ask one another what this country’s coming to. Vandalism and worse things continue to crop up. It happens in rural areas as well as in the cities.

There’s a type of picture arrangement that appears quite often in landscapes submitted in club contests and the exhibitions, but you rarely see it in the slides that are accepted by the judges. It’s easy to describe by likening it to a layer cake.

I have sometimes seen color pictures published in photographic magazines where the technical data accompanying the picture says that the picture was made with an exposure of two or three minutes. How is it possible to measure or determine exposures in color of that length of time?

Now that miniature-camera speed lenses with maximum apertures ranging from f/1.4 to f/2 are regarded as commonplace, or at least not as curiosities, it is perhaps inevitable that rumors of even faster lenses with maximum apertures approaching f/1.0 are now rife.

LIBEL BY PHOTOGRAPH is a problem that is closer to both amateur and professional photographers than they generally realize. It is also a problem that has captured the interest of some of our readers in recent months, for there have been a number of questions about the subject in our mail.

Last month we devoted our entire issue to aspects and problems of 35-mm photography. This month, convinced of the usefulness of such one-subject issues, we bring you another—on color. To illustrate it properly, we have quadrupled our normal quota of color pages, and set up the presses so that the color could be scattered throughout the magazine.

THIS SPECIAL ISSUE of POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY is in a sense a preview of tomorrow’s photographic magazines. It is devoted almost entirely to color, and color, according to the prophets, is expected to take over in the near future. The late Joe Dombroff, president of Willoughbys in New York, said early this year that black-and-white photography would be obsolete within the next two and a half years.

The outdoors is a natural setting for informal portraiture, done with a minimum of props and the help of passing strangers

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MURRAY ZINN

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IN VIEW of the pictures on these pages the sensible question would be, “Why black-and-white?” Certainly, either way, the pictures answer the question. We live in a world of color in which the colors fade as the sun sets. Color is totally absent only in darkness —and in black-and-white photographs.

At dawn or dusk, at noonday or midnight, a world of scenic splendor is yours for the taking with color film and any camera

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IF YOU SHOOT COLOR—and who doesn’t today—the chances are that sometime soon you’ll find a scene so evocative, so beautiful, or so unusual you can’t resist capturing it on film. If the result disappoints you, if it seems trite and uninteresting, perhaps the fault lies in the time of day you took the picture.

The settings are limited only by your imagination props are everywhere, and you don’t have to wait for the weather

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JOHN DEVOL

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HEY THERE, you with the camera! May we assume that you may not be using it just now for any one of several reasons: lack of new subject material, especially if you are a color enthusiast, lack of ideas, or just plain between-scason lethargy? And may we offer a colorful, inspirational, year-round solution for your temporary inactivity?

THIS year, for the first time in the history of photography, color films can be used by amateurs with almost as much freedom and flexibility as black-and-white. Even at their rated speed of 32, the fast new Ansco and Eastman reversal materials are on a par with most of the popular black-and-white films of a few years ago, and with special processing they can yield good results at exposure indexes of 64 or even 128.

There’s applause awaiting if you follow these tips on presenting your pictures

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ROBERT L. McINTYRE

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WHAT MAKES a good color-slide show? First you need some pictures, but that’s not enough. They ought to tell a story. The loudest applause awaits the photographer who can take a pile of slides, arrange them in an order that makes sense, blend in his own commentary and perhaps some background music, and create an hour’s entertainment for his audience.

With the wide world for a studio, this photographer uses natural textures in his figure studies

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Michael Aleshire

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FRED SMITH’S approach to photography of the nude female figure is one that could be used advantageously by other photographers struggling for worthwhile pictures of nudes. Long accustomed to working with experienced models in his profession as a magazine artist, Smith felt that in this particular field he would come up with better results if he took the model out of the hackneyed, formal atmosphere of the studio and put her into a situation to which she would react spontaneously as a person.

THE FIRST PURPOSE of every issue of POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY is to help and inspire its readers. And the first test of its success is the quality of the photographs it helps them to make. The information and guidance about color that we bring to our readers continue to bear fine fruit in the form of superb color transparencies.

THE GLIBLY STATED TRUTH that peak action can be stopped at slow shutter speeds is graphically confirmed in the Kodachrome spectacular on the facing page—planned and executed by a young New York professional, Marvin E. Newman. Shooting from the floor of Madison Square Garden on the opening night of the 1955 Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus, the photographer isolated his subject (headline trapeze artist, Mara) in the finder of his M-3 Leica to which an 85 mm Nikkor f/1.5 lens had been specially fitted.

This imaginative 35-mm photographer discovers a new wealth of color and design in a country setting

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Carol Smith

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EVEN THE common barn can provide some wonderful possibilities for compositions in color, line, and form if a photographer will keep his eyes open. Ferenc Berko, an exponent of photography as an artistic medium, truly used his camera as an extension of his eye in making this series of imaginative, colorful studies.

Try two special color films to get spectacular results with a minimum of fuss and muss, or use black-and-white printing-out paper—no darkroom needed

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Here's how to make printing-out-paper photograms: with sunlight or photoflood lamps

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OTTO BAYER

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AS AN OLD established darkroom practice, the photogram—a “light drawing,” according to Webster—has always been a source of fun for rainy days, and an exercise in design which offers visual effects available in no other medium. But two new approaches to photogram-making open new vistas for everyone.

EACH year there is an increasingly wide range of photographic contests which offer both professionals and amateurs a chance to win prestige and prize money. To keep our readers informed about what kind of pictures are taking prizes these days, from time to time we will publish a round-up of top winners.

AT ONE TIME or another, probably most of us have taken outdoor portraits of members of our families or of friends— posed facing into the sunlight, with the full impact of the sun’s rays hitting the faces of our subjects. And nobody was particularly happy about the resulting prints, which showed squints, pained expressions, and deeply shadowed areas.

TO A GREAT EXTENT, the success of your color shots depends upon accurate exposure, which influences not only the overall darkness or lightness of the transparencies, but their color quality as well. Many people have an idea that there is no problem to exact exposure for color shots — that they can depend entirely upon an exposure meter to prevent mistakes.

THE COMPLETE AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER, by Dick Boer, published by lliffe & Sons, Ltd. Cloth bound, 6x9, illustrated, 264 pages. A book which guides the beginner through the entire photographic process. Each phase, from the mechanics of the camera through the darkroom to the final print, is discussed in detail.

Noted Hollywood producer-director discusses the creative side of motion picture making

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Movie Background Music Available for all Moods

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JOHN DURNIAK

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Amateur motion picture makers and Hollywood directors have one basic problem in common: both are faced with making a blank screen come to life. Since the creative problems are the same for both groups, we feel that the experienced professionals have much information to offer which will be of value to amateurs.

A new film—Cine-Kodak 16-mm Tri-X Reversal—for amateur black-and-white motion-picture photography is now on the market, and promises to open up a new world in available-light movies without extraordinary expense. Although the amateur will be required to send his films to private labs (not Kodak) , the cost for processing will add only about $2 to the list price of $4.85 for a 100-ft roll.

AN AMAZINGLY versatile new product is now on the market which will take a lot of the headache out of photographic trouble spots. This is a synthetic rubber formula called Neoprene— developed specifically for use around the home, and of particularly effective application in the darkroom and with camera equipment of all kinds.

THE CARLING CAMERA COMPETITION, which is being held in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Commerce, is awarding $6,000 in prizes for photographs of a promotional nature pointing up the vacation areas and scenic attractions of Massachusetts.

On those annoying occasions when a flashbulb breaks off in the flashgun, there always is danger of cutting your fingers on the sharp, jagged edges of glass when removing the base of the broken bulb. Use of an ordinary, large bottle cork will minimize that risk.

All data and descriptions ascribed to products listed herein are those claimed by the manufacturers and distributors, and listings are not to be construed as endorsements by POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY. For further information write to address given in trade note.